why do they say African Americans can't swim?

Question

my buddy is a swimming instructor in the marines and he says out of all the recruits he can't teach african americans to swim and he don't know why

Answer 1

Let's drop all of the mindless shouts of "Racism" and consider the question objectively. Is it true that Africans have difficulty swimming? I can see why this is likely true. I wrote an essay on racial differences. The three main races evolved in and are adapted to different climates: the African in the tropics; the Asian in the arctic; and the European in a temperate area between the extremes of the other two. The African needs to keep cool. Kinky hair, active perspiration glands, long limbs and short torsos are some of the means of achieving this. One that is more relevant here is lower bodyfat than the other races. That results in a more dense body and makes it harder for one to float. It is not racist to tell such objective truths as this one. I see other questions that maintain Africans are superior in some sports, but no one cries "Racism" about it. Be fair!

Answer 2

Did the book give details why this might be true? I been swimming since I was 9 and I have 10 patches for different swimming accomplishment and I also scuba dive so I believe this to be false. I do think a lot of blacks compare to some other culture do not know how to swim and that might be because they did not grow up around a swimming pool and their parents probably did not know how to swim either. But I don't know any blacks who had trouble swimming because of their genetic makeup. One other point a person who has more fat might tend to float better or have more buoyancy than a muscular person so this might affect a person swimming ability.

Answer 3

well they can swim ,,,BUT BUT BUT,,, and this is fact ,The chemicals used in hair relaxers for black people are very strong and harsh,,,these chemicals do not mix with the chlorine and other chemicals to keep pool clean and ph balance right . If a black person has had a relaxer (which is id guess 80% do ) swimming can cause serious damage to the hair possibly ruining the relaxer (or curl as they call it ) .They pay alot of money to have those done ,,, way too much to risk ruining over a dip in the pool.......This is the truth why they dont swim,,,Those who do swim have not had these relaxing chemicals put in there hair ... So you see, its nothing to do with thier race or bone density ,,, thats all just mumbo jumbo.

Answer 4

African Americans can swim and many swim well. Reasons they may not have olympic golds may include a lack of opportunity, a lack of interest(drawn to more popular sports), lung spirometry, and bone density. There are many black people who can swim far faster than I. I am short. 5 '9. As far as penis length is concerned, well it is true that some studies have shown those of African decent have larger penises on average though some refute this. Another study shows homosexuals have larger penises on average than heterosexuals. That doesn't bother me at all. I believe if African Americans had more opportunity to swim when they were younger and an interest to enter swimming related sports then we would see African American gold medalists in swimming.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_penis_size
http://www.yourlunghealth.org/testing/spirometry/index.cfm
http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/opbmd.html

Answer 5

Well the answer is very simple african-americans are well built they are a perfect combo of muscles and brain soo..... everybody thougth "lets make a myth that they can't swim cuz they can't be perfect" sooo this is just a myth all african-american can swim just that some don;t know how to :D

Answer 6

This is not a racist answer. I like africans and african americans.

Name me 1 Olympic medalist who is of african origin.

Forget it, I doubt if any exist.

Africans have a very high bone density, and this would put them, physically-speaking, at a great disadvantage in the water.

Now name me a chinese boxing champion.

Stereotypes may often be misused, but there can be some truth hidden within.

If only we could get past "this is good" and "that is bad" kind of thinking. Value judgements are soooo passe.

Answer 7

Your buddy may not be a good teacher (ie a teacher being someone who inspires the student to best himself).

Partly physiology, partly cultural unavailability and partly lack of desire.

BTW....I am considered a ***** or Black person. African-American is a misnomer as most Black people in America did not come from Africa. We were/are born here in America. Although lol Black folk hate hearin me say that....what is...IS.

Answer 8

How sad! Some Afro -Americans can swim and your buddy is sadly mistaken because they can be taught, possibly, something may be wrong with the instructor and his ethnics or morals when it comes to Afro-Americans such as racism.
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Answer 9

Many AA's were brought up in poor conditions, not having access to a pool, public or private, so swimming just wasn't something that they did, not how they spent summers. And that's not to say that the same couldn't be said for white people or Asian people.

Answer 10

For the same reason some people say blacks can't play hockey, ski. Or why white guys can't jump.

Remember when they said a black athlete could never play QB in the NFL?